logo
Man linked to online threats against LGBT community facing federal charge, FBI says
09/04/2016   Mike Clary | Sun Sentinel
1387

A man linked to a series of online threats against South Florida's LGBT community that alarmed many residents and led to stepped-up police patrols in Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale is being charged with a federal crime, authorities announced Sunday.


Craig Allen Jungwirth, 50, is accused of violating a law of interstate commerce when in Aug. 30 Facebook posts he allegedly mentioned the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando and made threats planned for Labor Day weekend in the Wilton Manors area.


Jungwirth was arrested Saturday by the Florida Highway Patrol in Osceola County on an unrelated charge of driving on a suspended license, said Orlando Police Lt. Richard Ruth.


The affidavit released by the FBI Sunday details the grounds for Jungwirth's arrest on a federal charge that prohibits sending "any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another."


If convicted, Jungwirth could face a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.


Jungwirth, being held in the Seminole County Jail, is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in federal court in Orlando, according to the FBI.


Wilton Manors Police officials held a news conference Sunday afternoon, where they also released the affidavit and gave an overview of the investigation that led to Jungwirth's arrest.


The six-page affidavit in support of Jungwirth's arrest on federal charges details both the threats he allegedly posted in the last week and also his bilious history with businesses and members of South Florida's LGBT community.


One post on Aug. 30 said, "if you losers thought the Pulse nightclub shooting was bad, wait till you see what I'm planning for Labor Day," according to federal officials.


"You can never catch a genius from MIT and since you [expletive] aren't dying from AIDS anymore, I have a better solution to exterminate you."


Investigators said they confirmed that Jungwirth had attended MIT.


Jungwirth was located by investigators on Wednesday walking outside a house in Orlando where he was living with his mother, Maryann T. Jungwirth.


Asked by an FBI agent if he knew why investigators were there, he said that he did not, according to the affidavit.


"As investigators moved to show Jungwirth a copy of the threats made on Facebook, Jungwirth refused to read the Facebook statements and stated that he denied posting those threats, before investigators even had an opportunity to show him the purported threats," according to the complaint.


"Jungwirth then refused to speak further with agents and requested that they contact his lawyer."


Jungwirth's attorney, Ron L. Baum of Fort Lauderdale, could not immediately be reached.


Jungwirth "was identified by the Wilton Manors Police Department as a known individual and past city resident who had previously been the subject of numerous complaints involving the harassment and stalking of Wilton Manors residents," the complaint said.


On Thursday federal investigators reviewed "multiple complaints for stalking and harassing behavior" concerning Jungwirth, "as well as incidents of sabotage, vandalism and trespassing," the complaint said.


Agents also interviewed local business people who said Jungwirth "advertises himself as an event and party promoter in Wilton Manors and has a history of attempting to get what Jungwirth perceives as 'competing events' shut down."


One person told investigators of being targeted by hundreds of harassing calls from Jungwirth after a personal dispute and of "multiple negative reviews on their business website using multiple identities in an attempt to ruin their business and its reputation."


Another person interviewed by the FBI told of receiving "thousands of threatening text messages, Facebook messages and phone calls from Jungwirth, many times with Jungwirth stating, 'I'm going to get you.'"


Jungwirth was charged with defrauding an innkeeper for allegedly failing to pay a food and drink bill at a Wilton Manors establishment in late 2014. In a separate incident, in May, he was accused of damaging windows at Rumors Bar & Grill, also in Wilton Manors, and charged with criminal mischief, court records show.

  •   Publish my comments...
  • 0 Comments